Before Ricky Martin was livin’ la vida loca, the out gay pop star was an accidental child actor who starred in Burger King and Orange Crush commercials.
His adorable past appearances in the ads were first brought to light in 2020 during an interview with Jimmy Fallon.
Fallon told Martin that he discovered the old commercials when doing research on him for the interview, and Martin explained that acting was never on his radar.
“[The Orange Crush commercial] was the first time I was in front of a camera. My aunt was taking my cousin to an audition and the director saw me because I went with him. Then he goes can you stand in front of the camera? I’m like ‘no, I’m fine.'”
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The rest is history.
Martin’s cousin didn’t get the gig because Martin, himself, did.
“But it’s ok, it happens!” Martin said. “We love each other, it’s all good. He probably forgot about it.”
Both the Orange Crush and Burger King commercials aired in Spanish. In the soda one, a young Martin can be seen stealing an Orange Crush from an older kid, and the Burger King one opens on Martin’s big smiling face enjoying a burger.
Martin came out in 2010 and has since become a vocal advocate for the LGBTQ community In Puerto Rico, he helped shut down a discriminatory “religious freedom” bill in June 2019 and protested the then-governor’s homophobic tweets in July 2019.
He also helped raise money following the 2017 hurricane which devastated the island nation.
Last year, he spoke out about a traumatizing 2000 interview with Barbara Walters during which she tried to out him.
“When she dropped the question, I felt violated because I was just not ready to come out. I was very afraid,” Martin told People, referring to a 2000 interview with Walters. “There’s a little PTSD with that.”
In 2006, Walters would say that asking celebrities if they’re gay or bi was one of the big mistakes of her career.
Today, Martin is married to Jwan Yosef and they have four children together.
